This invention relates generally to a device for handling frozen desserts such as various forms of ice cream, ices, sherberts, and the like, and more particularly to a universal utensil having a plurality of attachments adapted for preparing individual servings of such foods.
With the proliferation of freezers and improved packaging of bulk ice cream, the use of frozen foods such as ices, sherberts, and ice cream products in various forms as a dessert both in homes, fountains, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals or the like is constantly rising. While the instant invention may be employed with various frozen foods, it will be described with respect to ice cream products and primarily concerned with home consumption. One of the major problems relates to serving ice cream in the frozen state. If removed from a freezer before serving, the ice cream tends to soften or melt and when refrozen the water content becomes icy. In attempting to serve ice cream directly in the frozen state, the conventional ice cream scoop or ladle is generally unable to penetrate the ice cream, particularly when the congealed mass is frozen to a hardened consistency. A particular difficulty relates to preparing individual servings of ice cream cake or pie which when solidly frozen cannot be cut with a conventional knife. This problem probably represents a major factor in the failure of these desserts to increase in popularity.
One solution to the problem of the freezing and consequent adherence of the congealed mixture to the bowl of the dispensing device is to maintain the ice cream scoops or ladles in hot water wells to maintain the temperature of the dispenser above that of the ice cream. However, in addition to the risk of contamination, provision must be made to maintain the water in the wells hot, and the temperature of the dispensing device drops immediately when submerged in a container of frozen ice cream. Additionally, the moisture in the dispenser when refrozen in the ice cream tends to create ice which detracts from the creamy composition of the ice cream. The problem of handling frozen ice cream cakes or pies is particularly acute, since it is obviously undesirable to attempt to store a knife in a hot water solution and, even if so stored, the cutting effect would be only momentary before the temperature of the knife blade dropped below that necessary to cut the cake or pie due to contact with the frozen mass. Thus a many pronged problem relating to the dispensing and serving of various forms of ice cream as frozen desserts particularly for home consumption is limiting the growth and continued use of a highly favored dessert.
In dispensing frozen desserts, it is necessary to provide a dispensing device which is capable of being heated and retaining heat so that when submerged in a container of frozen ice cream, the dispenser will be enabled to penetrate the ice cream and the ice cream will not adhere to the inner wall of the dispenser. Various attempted solutions to this problem are known in the art. Such solutions include a double wall dispensing device to permit fluid to circulate therethrough in heat transfer relation to the inner surface of the dispenser. Such devices which circulate heated liquids or solutions having a low freezing point are commonly employed for transferring frozen ice cream from a storage receptacle to individual serving dishes. However, these dispensers are relatively complex and expensive. Sine they are normally limited to a single dispenser and thus represent only a partial solution, they are impractical for the home consumption market.